


Glass Hearts

by Kosho



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Awkward Alistair, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Crush, Awkward First Times, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Awkward Sexual Situations, Awkwardness, Companions, Dragon Age Lore, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Grey Wardens, Inspired by..., Mage Origin, Mages, Nightmares, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:28:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6776875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kosho/pseuds/Kosho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair and the Warden follow the course they were set upon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Talk to me...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first serious attempt at an Origins story. May follow the entirety of the story, though not strictly canon.

They had made camp for the first time since the events at the Tower of Ishal. Lothering was where they were supposed to go, but none had the strength to press on just yet. Morrigan had taken to keeping to herself, off at the far end of the camp, arms folded with a scowl on her face, still presumably upset over the way her mother had so easily sent her on her way. Alistair stared at the fire, sneaking a glance at the girl across from him. She had laughed at his jokes, even shot a few back, but that had been the extent of their interactions, he couldn’t even say that he had heard her name. Dalish, that much he knew, seemingly with little to say, and the silence was troubling him.

“Cold out tonight. You _can_ get closer to the fire; I swear I’m not going to bite you.” He said jokingly.

Red orbs glanced up at him for a moment, then back down, bringing her knees to her chest, arms folded over them, propping her head on them lightly. Her long red waves formed a sort of veil over her features, as if trying to shut him out, and he thought for sure, tonight would be as all their time together, however brief, had been, mostly quiet.

“I’m not cold.” She lied.

That attempt at conversation had failed, struggling to think of a topic that she might be more willing to open up about. “Do you miss your clan?”

She tensed at the question, glancing up briefly. “I do. Feels like forever since I saw them.” She mumbled, tipping her head back down.

“It’s only been a few days, hasn’t it?” he asked quietly.

“No. The clan I was taken from wasn’t mine. My Keeper sent me away, too many mages, among…other reasons. That was just the only one willing to take me in.” she explained, keeping it short.

Alistair was the first to admit he was no expert on Dalish affairs, but he admitted to a slight curiosity, if only because they had to stick together, and remaining strangers didn’t feel right. Tossing a log onto the fire, he listened to the way it crackled and popped in silence as he tried to find the words to phrased the question most present on his mind. She was somewhat distant, understandable, and he worried about pushing her away if he couldn’t find just the right way. Sighing to himself, he gave up, deciding to ask her directly and simply.

“What’s your name? You never told me, and I don’t recall anyone else using it…” he questioned.

She stayed quiet for so long he was certain she either hadn’t heard him or was completely ignoring him. About to give up on getting his answer, her head lifted once more, sweeping red waves from her face, the first chance he got to take a good look at the dark markings on her face, reminiscent of a tree, thin, sprawling branches over her brow, curling just under her large, expressive red eyes.

“Lavellan. Alina Lavellan.” She told him.

Somewhat pleased with the way the conversation was slowly opening up, he frowned when she stood up, heading for her tent. Alina ducked down, crawling in without a word of warning or at least a hastily offered ‘good night’. Sighing again, he turned his focus to his hands, staring at them as though they were the most interesting things he had ever seen. He knew she wouldn’t sleep well that night, knew that she couldn’t anticipate the things she would see, leaning back to relax, unprepared to turn in for the night. Warmer out here, by the fire, under the stars, and better to look at, he told himself, long accustomed to the real reason he didn’t want to. A reminder of the daunting task ahead of them, and of the things he knew he would never do with his life that he occasionally thought about. The little he knew of her had included mention that she didn’t exactly join because it was her life’s dream to be a Warden, though he couldn’t say what drove her to it, he imagined she might one day soon be in his position, thinking of things she could no longer do with her life, maybe she would regret it, maybe not.

Alistair turned to the other side of the camp, vaguely considering trying to make small talk with the witch, but that held no appeal to him, and frankly, she would only send him away with some clever insult, and that sounded about as much fun as fighting darkspawn, no fun at all. Without a way to accurately tell, he guessed an hour or two had passed since she retired for the night, when the screaming began. Whimpers, the sound of sobbing, all sounds he had heard before, the question being if it was proper to go in and check on her, maybe explain to her why it was happening, something, anything. She hinted at being a mage, the mental image of taking a fireball to the face for disturbing her was a real possibility. He hesitated, quietly entering her tent, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

“It’s going to be alright. Well…no, I suppose it isn’t, but eventually, you might be able to ignore it…if that makes a difference.” He stumbled over his words, trying to right his words.

Frightened, that was the look frozen in her eyes. To his surprise, she reached for his hand, squeezing it nervously. “What’s happening to me?” she asked him, her voice no longer cold, but tinged with anxiety.

Nodding towards the tent flaps, he sighed. “Explaining might take time. I doubt you’re eager to get back to sleep, come with me, I’ll tell you what I can and maybe see if there’s anything to eat packed away.”

Alina watched him suspiciously, as though scrutinizing his features with care, trying to figure out if it was a trap. She followed him out after a short time, understanding he might be the only one who knew anything about this, being reliant upon a human she barely knew was a hard thing to accept, though admittedly, he seemed nice enough.


	2. Self Lothering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alistair, Alina and Morrigan make there way to Lothering, and things start to become complicated with the addition of new companions

Alistair watched her from a distance. It wasn’t a huge shocker that she didn’t feel like talking anymore about what had happened, insisting that they get to Lothering and get on with business as it had been before. So far, they were making fine time, but there had been an unexpected stop, one that was actually mildly surprising to him. A dog, probably the very same Mabari she had saved at Ostagar, now in front of them, Alina knelt down to pet him, and talk to him, more animated than he had seen her until now.

“Aww, you’re a good boy, aren’t you? Do you want to come with us?” she asked.

The mabari barked its approval, and after a time she stood up, a finger curled under her chin, her head tipped in thought. Clearly something was on her mind, but damned if he could think of what, and she didn’t seem to want to share.

“What do you think of Thunder?” she asked, seemingly not directed to him.

Again, the mabari barked happily, taking a seat at her side. Morrigan rolled her eyes, her lip curling in disgust.

“As if one smelly companion wasn’t enough.” She grunted.

“Alistair doesn’t smell that bad.” Alina replied.

“Was that a compliment? I can’t tell.” He sighed.

Alina ignored the comment, proceeding on the road, Thunder following with proud steps just a pace behind her. She had given no indication of what the plan was, and it was time to ask.

“What exactly are we doing?” Alistair asked her.

He had approached her, but took a step back at the sudden growling. He shot the dog an annoyed look, as if her wall wasn’t hard enough to poke through without his interference.

“I’m not sure. I assumed you were in charge.” She countered.

“I’d rather you lead. We do have a few options though, we could start at the circle, or maybe Orzammar, Redcliffe, or maybe even the Dalish…” he suggested.

“Or you could go right to this man you’re after and kill him.” Morrigan offered.

“That sounds good.” Alina repied.

“You aren’t seriously considering it, are you? I really think we should worry about other things first…I mean, with the Blight…” he trailed off quietly.

“Let’s just worry about what’s in front of us.” She answered.

Right off, they had been stopped by what were clearly bandits, neither were sure if she could tell, even with how obvious it was. She frowned, raising her hand, a ball of fire in her palm.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to let us through, and give us what you stole, or the guards will be identifying you by the scorch marks on the stone.” She threatened.

The leader quickly forced a bag of stolen coins into her hands, waving to his friends as they ran off. Alina said nothing, pressing on ahead, as if completely unaware that she had done anything unusual.

“Her, I like. Why can’t you be more like her?” Morrigan questioned.

“Are you asking why I can’t be a mage, or a woman?” he wondered apprehensively.

Morrigan chose not to answer. The elf was proving to be more conscious than he imagined. She stopped to offer medicine to someone in need, broke up an argument, and made traps for someone she couldn’t possibly know. Without a word, she headed for the inn, halting just inside the door, the reason obvious when they caught up to her. Inside, there were men who had apparently been looking for them, a chantry sister interrupting to try and diffuse the situation. There was no calming them down, the second that became fact, Alina moved out of the way, her hands moving slowly like she had just seen them for the first time, more like she was materializing a circle of fire around them, it turned out. The fight finally came to an end when only one stood at the end, the short elven woman gripping his collar, barely exposed over his armor, yanking him closer.

“You’ll take a message to Loghain for me, won’t you? Tell him I’m coming for him, and he’ll get no mercy.” She relayed, pushing him out the door with a quiet grunt, Thunder biting at his heels in emphasis.

The woman from before approached her, and again, Alina seemed at a loss for how to deal with interacting. She said her name was Leliana, and she had a dream, and for whatever reason, she wanted to come with. Red brows furrowed in confusion, she shrugged hopelessly, opting to say nothing, but waved her along anyway. Morrigan left, heading for the camp, perhaps not content with the extra company. Lavellan wanted to leave, crossing her arms, striding back towards the exit until a cage caught her interest, pausing in front of it. They spoke quietly for a time, before she knelt down, pulling a small metal rod out of her pocket, she tried valiantly to pick the lock, but it became clear she had no idea what she was doing. Leliana nudged her out of the way, picking it quickly, the Qunari walking out of the cage when it opened.

Sten also left for the camp, not eager to follow in an area where he had just been in captivity. Heading for the other end of the broken bridge, they were held up once more, this time by dwarves who were being attacked, the fight lasting only a few minutes. The older of the two introduced themselves as Bodahn and Sandal, thanking them for the help, but deciding not to accompany them. Alistair finally spoke up, noticing Alina was dragging a little bit, wondering if she might have done too much too soon.

“Why don’t we make camp for the night. It might do us good to stop and plan where we’re going first.” He said.

He expected her to argue it, to want to keep going until she dropped, but she surprised him, relenting easily to the suggestion.

“I suppose that sounds fine. I’ll take the rest of the night to learn what I can, since apparently this is my decision to make.” She mumbled.

* * *

 

The camp was much livelier that night, Sten and Leliana hanging out by the fire, Thunder off to the side relaxing. Closer to Morrigan, Bodahn and Sandal had apparently changed their minds and decided to follow them after all. Alina kept to herself, sitting near her tent, her legs drawn up to her chest like a physical wall, and Alistair was discovering that with the new company, there was even less of a chance to actually talk to her alone now. Gathering up his will and his courage, he took a seat next to her, clearing his throat.

“It’s been a long day, hasn’t it? Sure showed those men what was what though…” he observed, trying valiantly to make conversation.

“I guess. “she answered.

“Do I…bother you?” he asked, staring at his boots.

“You’re not unpleasant. I like you just fine, I just have little to say.” She answered.

In his mind, that was good enough. She didn’t hate him, so that was something, right? More importantly, he wasn’t quite sure what he had been expecting, initially, he had just wanted to help her through her initiation, then it was just cooperation. He had gotten through both, but that was where he fell short, was he trying to work with her, or be her friend? It could definitely be both, but that should have been simple enough to figure out, and yet trying to form a coherent thought on the matter was difficult.

“I wondered…are you alright? I didn’t want to say anything, but you looked like you were in pain earlier…” he probed quietly.

“I’ll be fine.” She began, intending to leave it at that, until she saw the look in his eyes. Sighing to herself, she shrugged. “I’m alright, I just pushed it too much, I think. I’m not sure what my limits are anymore, and it’s a process.” She told him, hoping that could be the end of it.

“Look… I’m not much, I know…but we need to stick together, so if nothing else, trust that I’ll always be here if you need me.” He sighed, pushing himself to stand.

He had a feeling she didn’t want to be bothered, and he could respect that, everyone needed their space, and at the very least, she had talked to him, a win in his mind. Perhaps it was a sign that she was beginning to trust him, even though it hadn’t been long at all. At least he was certain they wouldn’t have many other volunteers to join them on their quest to stop the Blight. Why was he worried about that, he couldn’t quite figure that out either, was he actually jealous about having to share the attention of a girl who barely seemed to realize he existed.


End file.
